The Runner
by Ol' bacon boy
Summary: A notorious stretch of road, two hundred ounces of Skooma, a dapper suit and an enchanted blade. from Skingrad to Anvil, a tale from the wrong side of Cyrodiil.
1. Skingrad

Chapter one – Skingrad

Pressed tightly to Dibbens' chest was a lightly woven bag; clinking with twenty ten ounce bottles of Skooma his head raised like a meerkat scanning the horizon. The gold road run from Skingrad to Anvil was always the least pleasant. These runs became harder as the seasons progressed. Dibbens stubby right hand reached into his wiry black hair and ran through it nervously; his mouth worked chewing on nothing. But he held his stance in the midnight air with ease of experience. He wore two sets of clothes at all times, one set of plain clothes to cover his rather dapper business attire underneath. Dibbens stretched out his now free right arm and placed it at his side, resting it on the hilt of a small enchanted blade. His protection: his only true friend. Dibbens slowly slid past Salmo's bakery, pressing tightly into the brickwork directly next to her door as the light of a guards torch shined through the darkness, less than three meters from him. Dibbens held his breath as the crumple of the guards boots slowly moved into the street. He was not facing Dibbens, in fact he had his back to him, and yet Dibbens' neck still crawled as the guard paused in the middle of the street to adjust himself, any fast movements on Dibbens part and the Skooma he carried would never make it to Anvil. Finally the guard sighed and yawned and, lazily walked around behind Undena Orethi's place. _I hope he steps on her daffodils_ Dibbens thought to himself as he pressed on silently down the street _I hate that bitch of a dark elf. _Even though it was midnight Dibbens could see that the two sisters lodge was alive and boisterous, he could hear loud yells and smashes of ale bottles as he snuck past, thankfully there where no doors on his side of the street, just bland gray stone work. Dibbens turned suddenly startled as loud singing echoed along the street behind him, Dibbens quickly snuck away behind a small alley way created by Salmo's Bakery and the Two Sister Lodge. He crept a few meters along the alley way before stopping lowering into a crouch and waiting for the men to pass. The two stopped under a lamp directly in front of Dibbens' gaze, and one of them, the larger one, bid farewell to his companion who waved drunkenly and stumbled off into the night. The big burly man stood under the light swaying in a drunken manner, and then abruptly stopped and stood straight. His position seemed familiar to Dibbens who was watching eagerly from the shadows of the alleyway. The large man slowly grinned to himself and eagerly pulled his dirty overcoat off to reveal a simple woolen shirt with the Skingrad coat of arms emblazoned on the front and back. _Clever bastard! _The large man was, evidentially, an undercover guard, who was incognito to find out more about Skingrads darker sides. With his heart beating faster in his chest Dibbens' forehead began to sweat as the large man slowly walked for the shadows to the alleyway, taking a shortcut to the castle. Dibbens would have smacked his forehead if he could have for putting himself in such a stupid position. He did not want to cause a stir by killing a guard; unwanted attention was bad for business. But he could not think of anything else that he could possibly do. If he backed out the large guard would have the advantage over Dibbens because of his light frame, but if Dibbens struck now he would have the advantage of surprise. So with little more than a flash of steel Dibbens lunged with his blade forwards in his one free hand directly into the burly guards' throat. The blade sank diagonally through the mans beefy neck and out the other side, the blade erupting with enchanted flames as it did so, cauterizing the wound almost instantly. The Guard stood in shock at the mouth of the alleyway, a slight trickle of blood flowing up from his mouth, slowly but with firmness Dibbens yanked the blade free from the mans beefy neck and with one deft movement Dibbens wiped the blade clean and sheathed it. _An all to worthy death _Dibbens thought as he stealthily moved from the body and back out onto the street. Apart from the lamps mounted on light poles there was no other lights along the street so Dibbens moved with much more haste as he drew nearer to the western gates of Skingrad. Dibbens reached the large archway in the wall just past the Two Sisters Lodge, and looked at the bridge stretching out in front of him reaching to the other half of Skingrad. _I hate the way this city is divided _thought Dibbens tersely as he looked across the bridge from the right side of the archway. Dibbens moved slower now onto the start of the bridge looking down from its right side at the western gates. Dibbens looked to the familiar rock by the right side of the bridge, putting his hands behind him Dibbens jumped to it landing, without a tremor, on the left face of the large rock. Now slowly but surely Dibbens crept along this face of the rock until he reached the road underneath the bridge and began to walk along the left side of it. The western gates stood only thirty meters from him, _and now for the easy part_ Dibbens thought sliding his blade out to his free hand and held it tightly in his fist preparing silently. Then, he slapped it on its face against a low lying rock next to his left foot. Exactly three counts later and the call was returned. At this Dibbens continued walking along the same path sheathing his dagger. He strode confidently to the large gates and grinned slightly as the old gatekeeper Earl stepped up to greet him. 'Evening Earl' Dibbens said in a relaxed tone watching Earl with a grin 'isn't it a bit late for a sprightly young Redguard such as yourself to be wondering' Earl said slowly as he forced a smaller door within the western gates themselves. 'I'm not as sprightly as I used to be Earl' Earl turned to Dibbens while he spoke, pausing and slowly assessing Dibbens whilst he thought of an answer 'no' he said slowly, hesitating 'your even more energetic than usual' Dibbens grinned amused, Earl continued to speak 'watch yourself on these roads Boy, I have seen many a good man go down who where far more sprightly than yourself!' Dibbens nodded once more to ear and walked slowly through the small door passing a bag to Earl with his free hand; Earl nodded and then shut the door behind him.


	2. Fools Gold

Chapter two – Fools Gold

A gust of wind pushed Dibbens back against the door, and he grinned as he looked up to see the stars greeting him. Straightening his plain outer clothes he looked outwards to the open road. And then craning his neck back to his left he grinned wildly at the sight of the Grateful Pass Stables, _the cities will be ripe with gossip tomorrow, a dead guard and a stolen horse, and the night is still young _Dibbens then turned his whole body to his left and walked towards the stables. The stables where fairly basic, the owners kept a small homestead at the front of a very miniature field where they had around half a dozen horses. Dibbens walked towards the gate barring access into the field where the horses where kept, he pushed it open ruthlessly digging it into the dirt and tearing a rut in the soft soil. He flicked out his blade with his right hand and clapped the face of it into the cornerstone of the fence, the loud ring startled the horses and Dibbens saw a light flicker in the homestead. _Come on you bastard horses _he slapped the cornerstone once more in frustration and to his glee four of the horses fled through the opened gate leaving the two strongest horses for Dibbens to pick out, the only issue was the homestead a candle had been lit in the front window and Dibbens would have to be faster than usual. He pressed forwards and touched the side of a beautiful white Stallion with a fine golden mane. Dibbens leaped from the ground onto the horses back using his arms to pull the rest of his body onto the horse. Dibbens took a look at the last horse left in the paddock. _Well at least the owners will have something to be happy about _just as the thought reached Dibbens' mind the back door of the homestead flew open and a furious Argonian tore into the paddock hissing, a strung bow at his side. 'Get off my horse!' hissed the Argonian aiming his bow at Dibbens. Dibbens had not accounted for this he quickly flexed the reigns and the horse plunged forwards at the Argonian who loosed his arrow just missing Dibbens' head. The horse continued to charge out of the opened paddock gate and tore along the western road to anvil, the Argonians cries of despair and anger quickly subsided as the horse galloped along. The graded Imperial road was a smooth ride but Dibbens did not want the horse to become overly tired in case they needed to run again so he let the reigns relax and tapped the horse to tell it to slow. Dibbens watched the scenery go by as the horse slowly walked along the road its hooves clapping with an unknown beat. The moon shined over the surface of the Strid River that ran on Dibbens right side, it was narrow in this point of the river it had began to taper off only to end a mile from Skingrad. Dibbens knew the river well, years earlier Skooma runs where delivered via a small raft that sailed down to the mouth of the river to Anvil and directly to the smugglers cave. The plan looked good in theory but there was too much of a risk factor, fish, guards patrolling the river and bandits all these things led to the eventual end of the Strid River being used to deliver contraband. Dibbens grinned as he reminisced, know Skooma was taken directly by a carrier, a skilled one at that, from Skingrad to Anvil, this was one of the undergrounds most notorious contraband runs, the stakes were high and the pay was just as good. Dibbens grinned even wider as he thought of the piles of gold he would be receiving for this delivery. If he was successful he stood to gain more money than he could even begin to imagine. A fire was visible in the distance, _the first of the bandit camps Fat Ramp _fortunately none of the bandits where awake, Dibbens could see their fat bellies snoring around the dying campfire, _how slack_ Dibbens thought to himself as the horse slowly passed around Fat Ramp Camp. On the horizon Dibbens could see the sun beginning the rise and the night's skies paling, stars going out, and the moon shrinking back down from its post in the midnight sky. Dibbens knew it was time to camp. He moved directed the horse down to the banks of the Strid finding an unoccupied patch of beach he dismounted and tethered the beautiful stallion to a nearby tree giving it a chance to eat the soft grass and replenish its strength. Dibbens pressed his back against the same tree and slide down its smooth trunk; bit of bark fell around him as he pushed down into the soft grass. Holding the light woven bag tightly still into his chest he began to slip into an uneasy sleep.

The warm glow of the mid afternoon filtered down through the leaves of the heavy oak tree on which Dibbens was sleeping. A shatter of birds and squirrels woke him up to his surroundings harshly, the warmth of the sun was agony for him, and it had been months since he had last seen its presence in the sky. So used to midnight sky was he that he had forgotten the sound of birds, flapping in the tree, and it took a few moments for him to realize where he was. A fat wet tongue licked the side of his face, and he greeted his friend the stolen stallion with a reassuring pat on the side of its head. For a moment Dibbens sat there and then with unnatural speed and stood up and unfastened a small bag at his side gripping onto his own small bottle of Skooma. He tipped the bottle up and drank a large gulp from the ten ounce bottle draining it down to half full. For a second he stood in anticipation, and then his face flushed with relief as he felt the euphoric energy that now coursed through his limbs. He covered the large bag under his clothes and mounted the horse. Flashing his blade he cut the bond that tethered it to the tree and without a sound the horse galloped back to the road. This time Dibbens allowed the horse to carry him as far as he liked, and it powered down the road at a blistering pace for at least half an hour. Dibbens allowed the horse to have a break for ten minutes after but the journey soon continued, much slower now but still, at least he wasn't behind bars. _At this pace we will have reached fort Istirus by nightfall, and the foot hills of Kvatch by midnight_ Dibbens grinned, but faltered as he saw a figure on a horse on the other side of the road coming towards him dressed in Imperial steel armor. Dibbens continued his pace until he was level with the guard who paused to greet him. 'A fine day, is it not traveler!' Dibbens smiled and turned o the guard 'indeed it is, nice and warm' the guard eyed him up and down, Dibbens hoped he did not notice that he had no saddle. 'Where are you headed' Dibbens smiled 'Anvil' he replied without hesitation 'Anvil, eh?' the guard paused smiling as if remembering something 'I love Anvil during this time of the year, the heavy rains are particularly nice' Dibbens chuckled 'if you say so sir, but I apologize I have to be on my way I have a building to renovate' the guard looked at him with newfound interest 'the old abandoned house! Wonderful that is quite the mar on Anvils beautiful streets' Dibbens laughed openly now 'you have quite a quick mind, maybe you should have been a scholar' the guard looked at him curiously 'farewell, traveler, and thank you for your compliments' and with that the guard continued on his way. Dibbens grinned and also pushed forwards grinning to himself as the guard disappeared behind a hill. As the day grew older Fort Istirus became visible on the horizon. It was still late afternoon. 'Hah!' Dibbens suddenly exclaimed, _we must have travelled further than I thought _the fort became closer and the sun had not yet fallen. 'Whoa' he spoke softly to the stallion who was panting with exhaustion. The fort was only a few meters off the road and there was a small pool nearby. Dibbens led the stallion to the small pond and brooded on what he was going to do next, the horse gratefully began gulping down water and grass in great chunks Dibbens grinned as he watched. Slowly Dibbens picked a stick up from the ground and walked back to the road using the stick as a measure to the sun, _still a few hours of light left _Dibbens thought as he watched the horizon _we will push on soon_ half an hour later they were back on the road moving with a little more enthusiasm, Dibbens had slipped the horse some of his Skooma while it was drinking and its effects where easily visible on the horse, who had been galloping for almost an hour without tiring. With luck most of the bandit camps had been empty, somewhere out hunting. But as the sun began to set Dibbens saw a lone figure on the highway. The bandits of Mortal camp where using it as a toll bridge. Dibbens flicked out a small bag in preparation for their demands. Dibbens pulled the horse to a stop as he came to the bandit. 'Fifty gold coins' he stood there a battle axe in his right hand and his left hand outstretched, Dibbens paused. 'The gold or you die, there are five archers aiming at your head' a few rustles came from the bushes as the bandit said this, and one from one of the bushes flew an arrow that dug itself into the ground just in front of the stallions hooves. Dibbens smiled and threw the brown bag full of coins to the bandit 'there is one hundred, let me pass' the bandit opened the bag and grinned up to Dibbens. 'No such luck, Sir, Skooma runners have substances we love to drink!' Dibbens frowned and jumped off the back of the horse quickly as five arrows sailed at him, three dug into the flesh it reared up on its hind legs and kicked out at the man standing in front of it smashing a hoof into his exposed face cracking his skull and sending him into the ground. 'Kill that damned horse!' screamed a voice from the bushes. Dibbens took full advantage of their distraction with the stallion that was racing around in a Skooma induced frenzy, the Bandits had forgotten about Dibbens. He ran with unnatural speed into the bushes and lashed out with his enchanted blade holding his cargo to his stomach now as he swung the fiery blade. He cut through two Bandits and fire exploded from their bodies and caught onto the trees. Dibbens grinned in a sadistic manner as the trees began to burn and he backed away onto the road. A smell of burning flesh and the screams of the remaining bandits echoed around the area as the trees burst into flame and the woody area by the side of the road caught alight. The Stallion began to calm down as Dibbens approached; his soothing touch passed over the stallion and gripped onto one of the arrows. The horse turned to look at him and lightly whinnied, 'sorry buddy' Dibbens said grimly and he yanked the arrow straight out of the horse cringing as the horse started the whine loudly and blood trickled from its wounds. _Only two more _and with slow stiff movements Dibbens slowly disposed of the other two arrows, and lined the wounds with a soft healing balm that would take effect soon. Dibbens lightly patted the horse and pulled himself onto its back once more, Skooma still flowed through both of their bodies. The horse reared up as its master mounted it, leaving Dibbens gripping the horse's muscled neck, for a moment it stayed on its hind legs, and then, with finesse Dibbens could never hope to achieve it landed down onto the ground in almost complete silence, and began to gallop loudly along the road. Headed for Anvil.


End file.
